Renault minivan f1

Renault. It might look like a Vpowered van that can hit 60 mph in In other words, it's basically an F1 car wearing a minivan-shaped hat.

The Renault Kangoo, Trafic, and Master can now be had in a limited-run No, these aren't nearly as exciting as the Espace F1 minivan.

The Espace F1 was only driven in anger on a few occasions and now rests in Renault's museum. It's good to know that there once was a minivan that could haul.

Ruben 4th January , The realization that I am old when more people commenting remember it from Gran Turismo 2 than the real thing… The with the 1. Retrieved 14 May The Espace's design was originally conceived in the s by the British designer Fergus Pollock , who was working for Chrysler UK , at its design centre at Whitley in Coventry.

Renault Espace F1 | Gran Turismo Wiki | FANDOM powered by Wikia

The Renault Espace F1 was arguably an even more radical creation. It has a price tag to match too, not that there are any examples left to buy. In the mid-nineties Renault was looking for new ways of using its hugely successful F1 engine programme to promote its road cars.

The French manufacturer hit on an inspired idea. Having popularised the multi-person vehicle with the Espace, launched in , Renault marked its tenth anniversary by equipping one with its latest F1 title-winning engine. Creating the Espace F1 was not the work of a moment. The aerodynamic shortcomings of the slab-sided car meant major surgery was needed to accept its radical transplant: Former F1 constructor Matra, who manufactured the standard Espace for Renault, took on the task of fusing the two under the guidance of former F1 designer Gerard Ducarouge.

Bespoke front suspension was created along with most of the bodywork below the window line. Carbon fibre was used extensively to strengthen the body and form the vast rear wing which kept the beast on the ground. The car was developed at the Paul Ricard circuit which returns to the F1 calendar this year by Eric Bernard, who had ample experience of the drive train as it also powered the Ligier he raced for most of Although the seven-seat configuration of the original Espace could not be retained there was still room for three passengers in addition to the driver.

The rear couple sat either side of the screaming V10 and could peer down at it through transparent plastic. Among the most famous passengers of the car was Frank Williams, who was taken for hot laps by his then-driver David Coulthard. The Renault Espace F1 powerplant was on display The Espace F1 offered supercar levels of performance in a machine which looked like it belonged on the school run. The shriek of an F1 engine has surely never sounded more incongruous than when it came from this one-off creation.

For F1 drivers used to a low-slung cockpit, being perched high in the Espace was a strange sensation. Unsurprisingly the unwieldy body shape and high centre of gravity made for extremely tricky handling. At 1,kg it weighed two-and-a-half times as much as a contemporary F1 car.

But with well over bhp on tap the Renault Espace F1 covered the mph sprint in 2. Of course unlike Mercedes, Renault did not create a production version of the Espace F1. Hamilton wins on Mercedes team orders Paddock Diary: Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here. Phylyp phylyp 4th January , Thanks for this feature, Keith. Jere jerejj 4th January , Alex Bkk alex-bkk 4th January , Jimmi Cynic jimmi-cynic 5th January , Pat Ruadh fullcoursecaution 4th January , Ah the Renault Espace F1….

Pity it never had a production run like the Vauxhall Lotus Carlton. The best car in Gran Turismo 2. StefMeister stefmeister 4th January , StephenH 4th January , Hakk the rack 5th January , 7: Dave 4th January , Ruben 4th January , Put a F1 engine in one of their racing trucks and watch it pull a trailer with a F1 car at mph. Carlitox carlitox 4th January , How cool would that have been? If they used it now bet some drivers would crash out just to hear the thing.

Bio 4th January , If I remember well, It was actually used as the first ever safety car for a couple of times Silverstone was the first race , than Mercedes realized the marketing potential and immediately signed a deal with Mr. Ecclestone, the rest is history…. Deej92 deej92 4th January , Tifoso tifoso 4th January , I think Porsche did it even before Renault through its Porsche that was equipped with a V6 Tag engine that was used by McLaren in the season.

There is also another car with a fascinating story that is probably unknown for most of the F1 fans. The problem was how to test the engine so the Alfo procar came to light. It also has to be said that the engine in the Ferrari F50 might have started out in F1, but was extremely heavily modified by the time it ended up in the F50 and so only bore a limited relation to the engine it was derived from.